The Dangers of Pomegranate Salad

Chapter 21

Chapter 21, Fay Fiasco.

As soon as I eat them I feel trapped. Like there isn’t enough air for me to breath. I feel weak, dizzy. My legs buckle and I slide to the ground in pain. I’m sobbing now. Huge angry sobs, of pain and fear and hopelessness. Mrs. Underlan smiles and moves the stalagmites down, then she grabs Haden by the scruff of his neck like a cat. He struggles and tries to get to me but he isn’t strong enough. “NO!” he yells. She drags him up the steps and waves to me. “Terre!” he yells as the hole closes. “I’m sorry” I whisper to no one, and everyone. I say it for my family who will never know what happened to me. For Mom, who will wait in my room for someone who will never come back.  I say it for Dad, who was too far away to even try to find me. I say it for Henri, who will have no one to ask for girl advice. I say it for Jen, who won’t have a big sister who’s been through it before.  I say it for Jackie, who will never tell me another secret. But I say it mostly for Haden, who watched his only friend fade away, and was helpless to stop it. I cry and cry and cry in the darkness until I have no tears left.

I wait for Gea to come get me. As I wait, I notice little glowing dots, darting around every so often. Slowly they creep closer. One, a small glowing dot of green, comes right up to my face.  I see that it is a little girl with wings. She has long green hair and pointy ears. She looks curiously at my face. Slowly she reaches her hand out, and touches the tip of my nose. I swallow and she darts back behind a rock. She peeks up over the rock. She darts back over to me; her jerky movements remind me of a humming bird. She fly’s around my head and touches a strand my hair. She lets it go and the kinky curl is now perfect. I pick it up and look at it, amazed at its sudden perfection. The fay goes out and gathers others and they come at me in a swarm. All of them are girls. They circle me perfecting my hair, healing wounds, and I assume making my face look better. Once they’ve finished the start to circle my clothes. They are the remains of my work outfit and jacket. There all ripped up and dirty. They start at the top. And the circle and touch the fabric. At each touch, my shirt changes, becoming red lace up bodice, then my jacket, which is wrapped around my waist, changes into a red over skirt. My pants change into a black under skirt, and black and white striped legging. My shoes turn into black Victorian ankle high boots. On my arms are long striped fingerless gloves that reach up to my elbow.  Around my neck I feel a lace choker. They have made me perfect. They have even healed every scratch, every injury. Not that it matters. I’m still broken inside. The fays seem happy with what they have done. They start flying away. “Wait!” I cry out “lead me away from here!” I start to follow their glow. They move fast for little people. I run after them. In their glow, I see a tunnel at the back of the cave. I run to it.  I run through, my curls staying perfect, my dress never ripping. I follow the Fay’s glow to a much bigger cavern. In is a little kingdom. The little houses are attached to walls and columns. A castle made of Stalagmites about as tall as I am stands in the middle of the cavern.  I walk in amazed at the tiny city. The Fay fly around, some coming to look at me. The little green fay that came to me first lands on top of my head. I keep walking. I come to another cavern. I walk in and see a woman sitting on a throne made of columns. She has red hair, blue eyes, and a very bad make up job. Her lips too red, her eye shadow too blue. She reminds me of the Red Queen. She stands. “So you are my new pet” she says. I bow my head a little. She starts towards me, “I see the Fay have done what they do best, prettied you up.” she says. And it’s true. The fays have made me beautiful. They just left me in pieces inside “So, now I’ll just take your power and be on my way” she said. She grabs my wrist and pulls me to a different room, a laboratory with torture devices. I keep my head bowed. She pushes me against a wall, and cuffs attach themselves to me, I don’t resist. I feel hopeless trapped down here, away from my family and friends. And my garden. I will never see my garden again. She mixes things in a bowl and does all sorts of scientific looking things. Then she grabs my fay, which was still on my head, and plucks a tiny hair from her head. The fay screams, it sounded like an avian death cry. Then she sticks out her tongue and flies back to me. She darts into my hair, and peeks out at Gea. Gea puts the Fay hair in the potion, then a piece of my hair. She pricks my finger and takes a bit of my blood. She puts that in the potion too. It turns blood red. Then she is done. She picks up the potion and drinks it. As she drinks, there is an odd feeling at the pit of my stomach; it gets stronger as she drinks. It feels like I’m being stabbed from the inside. I scream in pain, fresh tears sliding down my cheeks. But I say nothing. She finishes drinking, and the feeling dies down, but doesn’t go away. She releases me. “Well, now I have your power.” She says with a smirk. She turns and waves her hand “take her to her room” more fay come in and lead me to a new room. This room has a large canopy bed. There is a wardrobe made of a dark wood, and a door leading to the city. There is also a book shelf, with lots of books. I walk in and the other fay leave, my green fay stays. She sits on my shoulder chirping.  I walk over to the wardrobe, “that’s mahogany,” I mumble to my self.  My fay jumps up and fly’s around excitedly. I look at her “what’s your name?” I ask her. She twitters and chirps. “I’m sorry, I don’t speak fay” I tell her. She lands on the ground, touching a spot on the floor. A small flower grows from the stone floor. A little white bell like flower. “Lily of the Valley?” I say “That’s your name?” she chirps excitedly. “Well Lily, looks like I’m going to be around for a while” I say. She chirps some more.